Tennis racket adapter



A118. 1 c. LA CROIX TENNIS RACKET ADAPTER Filed May 12, 1950 1N VEN TOR(Zorn [4600/1 BY a yawn 1W Patented Aug. 28, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE f 1 Claim.

This invention relates to an adapter for tennis rackets and isparticularly concerned with an adapter for a tennis racket by which theracket may be secured to the extremity of an artificial limb so that anamputee may confidently and competently enjoy and profit by the pleasureand athletic value of a tennis match.

As a result of the war, industrial casualties and accidents of varioustypes, there are estimated to be not less than 25,000 persons in theUnited States who through amputation are deprived of their tennisplaying arm or such portion thereof as will prohibit their satisfactorymanipulation of a tennis racket. While many such amputees may throughdisinclination, age, or from other circumstances exclude themselvesfromthis activity, nevertheless a majority of our amputees, andparticularly those casualties of the late war, are young men, who areideal candidates for tennis. Many of these persons have previously beentennis players and would, welcome the opportunity of resuming the game.Since tennis may be played by only two contestants and since it involvesboth vigorous bodily exercise. as well as skill and an alert continuouspreoccupation, it is an ideal recreation, exercise and morale buildingoccupationally therapeutic activity.

While it is conceivable that the handle of a tennis racket might besecured to an artificial hand or to present-day holding and manipulatingdevices which are secureable to the extremity of hand, adequate meanshave not heretofore been found. by which the racket could be so securelybeen foundby which the racket could be securely attached as to precludeaccidental displacement duringthe vigorous activity of the game, andmeans have not heretofore been provided by which a racket might beadequately secured at the desirable playing angle. Because of suchfailure the amputees have been deprived of activity in this sport.

It is, therefore, among the primary objects of the present invention toprovide an adapter for tennis rackets by which it may be secured to the2 and ideal angle such that the tennis ball may be struck eitherforehand or backhand with the same accuracy with which it is struck by aplayer who has not been deprived of his hand, wrist or arm.

A'further object of the present invention is to provide an adapter ofthe character set forth which is simple in construction and which may bereadily attached and detached from a tennis racket of conventional formand which device has a minimum number of parts and is well adapted tomeet the demands of economic manufacture.

A still further object is to provide an adapter of the character setforth which is of such light weight as to permit the use of the samewithout encumbering the user with the disadvantage of undue additionalweight.

Numerous other objects and features of the present invention will beapparent from consideration of the following specification taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 discloses the upper and forearm of an amputee, the forearm beingprovided with a conventional artificial limb extremity and showing atennis racket provided with the adapter of the present invention securedto such extremity.

Fig. 2 is a detailed exploded view of the racket handle, together withthe parts of the adapter of the present invention.

Briefly the present invention may be defined as comprising a brackethaving a tennis racket extremity of an artificial limb or a portionithereof.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an adapter fortennis rackets. whereby the handle of the racket may be securelyattached to the extremity of an artificial limb in dexterity common to askilled player who holds the racket in his natural hand.

- Another object of' the present invention is to provide an adapter fortennis rackets by which thesame. may be rigidly: secured to theextremity of arr artificial limb and. to extend therefrom at handleengaging plate and an angularly distend ing shank terminating in athreaded portion adapted to be received in threaded engagement with theconventional centrally threaded plate of the extremity of an artificiallimb, together with appropriate securing means by which the plate isrigidly attached to the handle. In order to permit adjustment of theangularity of the plane of the racket with respect to the axis of thethreaded portion of the artificial limb there is provided a flange onthe shank of the adapter together with a; resilient Washer ofsubstantial thickness, the-arrangement being such that as the adapter isscrewed into the artificial limb,

the washerw-ill be compressed in order to frictionall'y retain: theracket in such adjusted angular-ityastheplayer may desire;

Referring more particularly to the drawing the racket; which is ofpurely conventional form, is generally" indicated by the numeral l0 andincludes the conventional head II: and? handle 112 with its grip portion[3. The grip portion of the racket is here shown as of conventionaloctagonal form. It will be understood, however, that; the; invention isnot. confined to; a grip portion formed in this" exact configuration. It

will also: be understood" that; while,- thepresent invention is hereindiscloscd as designed: and

adapted for a tennis racket, the present inventive concept is notlimited in this respect and various rackets such as for use inconnection with the games of, squash, badminton, ping pong and similargames, may be provided with adapters formed in accordance with thepresent invention.

The adapter of the present invention comprises an elongated plate I4,the transverse cross section of which is formed in conformity with theexternal configuration of the grip portion of the racket. In the presentform of the invention, the grip portion of the racket being shown asoctagonal, the plate I4 is formed to embrace three contiguous surfacesof such formation. Thus the plate [4 is formed with a central flatportion I5 and co-extensive inwardly turned sides IS, the angularity ofwhich with respect to the central portion [5 is in conformity with theangularity of the edges of the octagonal grip portion of the handle ofthe racket. At either end of the body l5 threaded apertures I! areprovided which are adapted to receive the thread.- ed ends of bolts [8which extend transversely through the racket, their heads l9 beingformed as screw heads to facilitate the threaded engagement of theirends with the plate. Washers 20 are preferably provided in order tosecure the heads against undue wear of the grip surface of the racket.

Extending outwardly and downwardly from the plate It there is provided ashank 22 which is preferably disposed at an angle of approximately 45degrees with respect to the plate and is disposed in such manner as toextend downwardly and outwardly with respect to the head of the racketin a plane coincident With a plane extending through the axis of theracket handle. With respect to the angularity of the shank and the planein which its axis lies, it will be understood that the invention is notlimited to the exact angle of 45 degrees here suggested, nor to thelocation of the axis of the shank coincident with the plane passingthrough the axis of the handle. However, extensive experience has shownthis angularity and disposition of the axis to be preferable when theinventive concept is applied in connection with tennis rackets. Anadapter formed in accordance with the present invention for use withother types of rackets may be disposed at other angularities and inplanes departing from a plane coincident with the axis of the handle.

The body 23 of the shank here shown is approximately three inches long,although this length also may be varied in accordance with the type ofracket to which the adapter is to be applied, and the invention is notrestricted to the particular length here suggested. At the end of thebody 23 of the shank there is provided a transversely extending rigidand integrally formed flange 24 beyond which the shank is provided witha reduced threaded end 25. Seated over the end 25 and lying againsttheflange 24, there is provided a rubber or like resilient washer 26 ofsubstantial thickness. The provision of such a washer provides forcompression thereof when the threaded portion of the shank is screwed ina receiving portion of an artificial limb as will be hereinafterreferred to, and thereby such compression provides a constant tension onthe threaded connection so as to preclude inadvertent or accidentalrotation of the threaded end of the shank with respect to the end of theartificial limb. Thus, an angular adjustment of the racket maybe securedand such angular adjustment, which may be a matter of preference of theplayer, will be retained throughout the play without danger ofinadvertent tilting as a result of the impact of the racket with atennis ball.

As indicated in Fig. 1, the threaded end of the shank is adapted to bereceived within the threaded central aperture 21 of a transverse endplate 28 carried by the terminal end 29 of an artificial limb section30. It will, of course, be understood that the present invention is notconcerned with the structure, function or operation of an artificiallimb, and the disclosure herein is thus restricted to the disclosure ofmerely an end cuff 30 secured by lacings or the equivalent, indicated at3|, to the end of the forearm of the amputee. There are, of course, manyand varied types of artificial limbs which may constitute an entire armor portions thereof. It is common, however, to all of such limbs toprovide a transverse centrally threaded end plate of the type here shownat 28, and the present invention is, therefore, capable of securement inthe manner here shown to all of such limbs.

,From the foregoing it will be seen that the present invention providesa novel, simple, effective and efficient means by which an amputee maymanipulate a tennis or like racket and develop such skill as will permitsuccessful competition With less handicapped players. It will further beseen that the present adapter is structurally simple, of few parts,readily applied and removed from a standard racket, and well suited tothe demands of economic manufacture. It will, of course, be understoodthat the invention is not confined to the specific embodiment here shownand that numerous changes, modifications, and the full use ofequivalents may be resorted to in the practice of the invention withoutdeparting from the spirit or scope of the invention as defined in theappended claim.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent is:

An adapter for a tennis racket having an cetagonal handle comprising aplate having a central portion formed to fit one face of the rackethandle and a pair of side flanges adapted to fit sideedges of the handlecontiguous to the face thereof, threaded apertures in said plate,securing bolts extending through said handle and threadedly engagingsaid apertures, a shank extending outwardly from said plate and at anangle thereto and lying in a plane coincident with a plane passingthrough the axis of a racket handle secured to said plate, a flange onsaid shank, a coaxial threaded extension of said shank beyond saidflange, and a resilient washer mounted on said extension.

CLOVEY LA CROIX.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,029,794 Corley June 18; 19121,111,503 Visel Sept. 22, 1914 OTHER REFERENCES Artificial Limbs byFlorent Martin, published in Geneva (1925) by International Labor'Oflice Studies and Reports'series E, No. 5, page 218, Fig. 387. I Copyin Div. 55 of Patent Office. 2

